I Reincarnated as the Villain in a Rom-Com but I’m Enjoying Youth with My Favorite Heroine

10. Delinquent Friends

The next day, I woke up before six in the morning.

The reason for my early rise was to hang the laundry, clean the house, and prepare a bento.

Since yesterday was my first day attending school as Ryuusuke Shindou, I had forgotten about lunch. The cafeteria was too expensive, and with no part-time job, it would be a heavy burden for me. So, I decided to use the leftovers from yesterday to make a bento, wrapping it in a lunch cloth to take to school.

After that, my mother also woke up and was surprised to see me up earlier than her.

She was taken aback to see I had prepared dinner yesterday, warmed the bath, and was folding the laundry, all while studying in my room.

Such behavior must have been unimaginable for the me of the past. She seemed to have heard from my sister that I had turned over a new leaf, and she was so moved by my overly serious actions that tears flowed down her cheeks as she sobbed.

Seeing me start the household chores again in the morning, she was genuinely happy that Ryuusuke had become a good boy.

—

If I work for my family like this, I should eventually be able to regain their trust. For that reason, I intend to continue doing as many household chores as I can.

After spending the morning meaningfully, I prepare to go to school and slip into my uniform.

Today is the second day since my reincarnation.

I must navigate through the day without anything happening, ensuring a peaceful time.

As I put on my shoes at the entrance, I sensed a presence beyond the door. Is someone there…?

It’s too early for a delivery, and my mother has already left for work. She’s trying to leave the house earlier than Mai today, and that girl is still lounging in the living room.

So who could it be? Cautiously, I step outside—and I’m taken aback.

There stand two men.

One has hair dyed in yellow and black stripes like a tiger, tanned skin from the tanning salon, multiple piercings in his ears, and a fierce expression. The other, with a similarly adorned appearance, has a blonde, frivolous look and stands at the door.

One of them speaks up.

“Hey, Ryuu. What’s up with you? Wearing a uniform and all. You planning to go to school or something?”

“Uh, yeah…?”

The memories I inherited as Shindou Ryuusuke overlap with the knowledge from my previous life.

The two men standing in front of my house are Ryuusuke’s bad friends, Kogane Takuya and Oobayashi Mitsuru.

They’ve been friends since middle school, both the same age. During those years, we played around day and night, and even now, despite attending different high schools, our delinquent friendship continues. Eventually, they will undoubtedly stand in the way of the protagonist alongside Ryuusuke, becoming unmistakable antagonists.

I couldn’t hide my surprise at the sudden appearance of these delinquent friends.

As I hesitated, the blonde guy, Oobayashi Mitsuru, reached out to my shoulder with a worried expression.

“Ryuusuke, we’ve been worried about you, you know? We’ve tried contacting you so many times on your phone, but you haven’t replied. Seriously, what happened?”

“Mitsuru’s right. We couldn’t get in touch, so we came to your house out of concern.”

“Ah… now that you mention it, I did leave my phone unattended.”

I had been so flustered right after my reincarnation that I hadn’t checked it at all… I definitely received a lot of notifications yesterday, but I was tired, so I just set the alarm and left it alone.

Right now, I’m acting completely differently from the usual Shindou Ryuusuke. It’s only natural for my friends, Kogane and Oobayashi, to worry about me. The fact that they couldn’t reach me by phone must have made them even more anxious.

But this is a problem… I should have dodged their questions with my phone yesterday.

I want to break free from the role of the villain and avoid a disastrous future. If I get too close with the delinquent characters, Kogane and Oobayashi, the ideal youth I envision will only drift further away.

For now, I’ll just brush it off and head to school. I can’t afford to be late.

“Sorry, Mitsuru, Takuya. My attendance is on the line, and if I don’t head to school soon, I might end up repeating a year. So, sorry about this, but I’m off to school now.”

“No, no. Ryuu, didn’t you say you didn’t care about school anymore? That you’d be fine with expulsion, suspension, or repeating a year?”

“Yeah, Ryuuusuke. Plus, that annoying guy in your class who’s always surrounded by girls… what was his name? Fusegawa? You said it’d be more fun to cause a ruckus and get expelled. Then we could hang out again, right?”

“Ah… did I really say that…?”

This is bad. They’re bringing up things I said before I reincarnated to persuade me. If I go along with this, I might end up in the same situation as in the original story.

—

The original Shindo Ryusuke, along with his bad friends, repeatedly causes trouble for the protagonist, Fusegawa Yorito. Each time, he faces retaliation from the protagonist, who joins forces with the heroines, only to return to his misdeeds again.

Ultimately, he creates a major incident involving expulsion and the police, leading to his exit from the story.

Anyway, at this rate, my high school life is heading straight for disaster. Trying to escape this predicament, I began persuading my two bad friends.

“But you know, there’s that. Look, a lot has happened, right? I’ve started to think that I really need to attend school seriously now. Yeah, seriously.”

Ah, my vocabulary. It’s lacking.

“What the hell is a guy who’s been skipping school saying…? Anyway, let’s go have some fun. My dad’s car is free today, so let’s go for a drive.”

“Ryuu, it’s gonna be fun for sure. Let’s buy some alcohol somewhere, pick up some girls, and party hard!”

This is bad. They’re openly declaring unlicensed driving and underage drinking. They’re thoroughly playing the role of villains with no room for sympathy.

As I pondered how to decline, a savior appeared to resolve the situation.

“Oh, big brother. You’re still here? You left before me, didn’t you?”

The front door creaked open, and Mai stepped outside. My little sister stood next to me, glaring up at Kogane and Obayashi.

“Hm? Kogane-san and Takuya-san, what’s up? Do you need something from my brother?”

“Oh, Mai-chan. Listen, your brother suddenly got all serious on us.”

“Yeah, he suddenly said he wants to go to school, and it’s giving us a hard time.”

It seems Mai is acquainted with my bad friends. Even with two intimidating delinquents in front of her, she speaks to them without hesitation.

“Haha, you haven’t heard from big brother, huh? You see, he decided to turn over a new leaf and start going to school seriously since yesterday.”

“Turned over a new leaf? That’s a lie, isn’t it? Just out of the blue…”

“Kogane-san and Takuya-san, let’s all turn over a new leaf and go to school like big brother, okay? Masahiro-san, who’s always having fun, goes to school every day, right?”

“That guy is fundamentally serious. Even if he plays late into the night, he still goes to school the next day. He doesn’t drink or smoke, and he gets really mad when I try to drive my dad’s car. Well, I guess he’s just worried about me.”

“Masahiro-san is a good person, right? Oh, and yesterday, I talked with Masahiro-san on my smartphone, and he was really happy that you came to school, big brother! He’s looking forward to seeing you again today.”

“Oh, Masahiro is happy, huh? Hmm, could it be Ryusuke… you?”

Kogane and Obayashi exchanged glances and nodded, then sighed heavily, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“Seriously. So you finally got your act together… That’s why you started going to school, huh?”

“Huh? Uh…?”

“Kogane, I think so too. It’s been a long time… I really thought you’d get dumped by Masahiro with how you were acting… Good for you, Ryusuke…!”

“Sorry… just wait a second, I don’t understand what you’re talking about…?”

“Don’t be shy. You finally fell for Masahiro, didn’t you? That’s why you decided to turn over a new leaf and start going to school, right?”

I could only stare blankly at the two of them, but Kogane and Obayashi were nodding and smiling. They then gave my back a hearty slap.

“We’re not stupid enough to interfere with a friend’s love life. In fact, we’d rather celebrate it.”

“Hehe, Ryusuke. Be happy. And Mai-chan, too. If your brother’s in trouble, make sure to help him out. This guy may be tough in a fight, but he’s a total rookie when it comes to romance.”

Seeing the reactions of Kogane and Obayashi, my younger sister Mai looked up at me with a mischievous smile.

“So that’s what it was, big brother! For Mashiro-san, huh~! That’s great, I’ll support you with all my might as your little sister!”

I looked at each of their faces, confused. No, I understood what they were saying.

In other words, they thought that I had fallen for my childhood friend, Amanatsu Mashiro, and that I had changed my heart to start going to school for her sake.

Indeed, Mashiro is an important person to me. The only one I harbor feelings for, aside from my family, in this world.

However, I was thinking of keeping my distance from Mashiro. I believed it was necessary to avoid the future where she would be ruined.

In such a situation, their misunderstanding was convenient for me. Both my bad friends Kogane and Obayashi were supporting my supposed love, which meant they were okay with me going to school. If I brought up Mashiro, I should be able to free myself from the entanglements of my friends and move around with a degree of freedom.

—Alright, I might be able to pull this off. While hiding my inner turmoil, I smiled and opened my mouth.

“Y-yeah. I was thinking of changing my relationship with Mashiro. I finally realized it.”

“Woohoo! That’s hot, Ryusuke!”

“Oh, Ryuu’s getting soft…! It makes us happy to see you serious about Mashiro…”

“Yeah, I plan to do my best too… So I decided to go to school to meet her. Sorry, Man, Takuya. That’s why I had to decline your invitation…”

I scratched my head apologetically. Then Kogane and Obayashi raised their voices, seemingly overwhelmed with emotion.

“Ryusuke… sorry for dragging you into this without knowing.”

“Ugh! I’m so moved! I wish you both happiness!”

“I’m so happy~ sniff. I can’t stop crying now that big brother finally noticed Mashiro-san’s feelings~”

“O-oh… thanks.”

I answered casually while internally doing a victory pose. I had managed to justify my reason for going to school to my two friends. Now, as long as I went to school, everything should be fine.

“Well then, Ryusuke. Let’s hang out again next time.”

“If Takuya and I were at the same school as you, we could’ve seen you and Mashiro flirting around campus.”

“Yeah, that’s right, Man-san. Let’s watch over them from afar.”

“Ah, that’s true. Well, I guess we can only watch over you.”

“Uh-huh. Big brother, do your best. Make sure to cherish Mashiro-san’s feelings.”

“Y-yeah… got it.”

I managed to respond while forcing a strained smile, and then the three left, patting my shoulder with beaming smiles.

“…Phew. I somehow managed to get through that.”

I let out a sigh of relief as I started walking towards school. It was lucky that I could slip out of my entanglements with my friends like this. I had to be grateful to my sister Mai.

I should prepare a feast for her tonight, something she likes.